His Twilight Town
by YAJJ
Summary: They need an item, one that can only be found in a digital world... a digital world that may twist Sora's heartstrings... KHIII hopeful, I guess. No pairings, only cuteness overload. Be wary of the chibi!Roxas and TT gang!


His Twilight Town

A Kingdom Hearts fanfic

**YAJJ**

**Date:** 2/25/2014 11:30 pm

A/N: Why? Because I needed more Roxas, and then what with all the new KHIII ideas out there, I'm like "well, here's one I've got!" I swear to Kingdom Hearts, this was an actual, legit not embarrassingly precious video game idea. And then Rox took ahold of the story and was like "yeah, screw that, cuteness overload". I couldn't stop smiling until when Sora had to leave, at which point I started getting very upset. Also, the little quote things at the end are from the manga, because I don't have KHII, nor do I own the actual manga so I had to look it up online so I'm not sure how close they are to accurate. Sorry.  
Also, please ignore the fact that the beginning (any part not in Twilight Town, actually) sucks. My muse didn't want to work for anything but Twilight Town. And I think that I made Donald a real dick but *shrugs* I don't care.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I'm afraid of what it would be if I did. But I am getting the soundtracks for I and II and Sora and Roxas' necklaces, so that's something, right? :)

Okay, please enjoy!

* * *

"So this item is… a…" Sora willed Yen Sid to continue, lifting his eyebrows enticingly. Riku sat at his side, impatiently tapping his foot like he had somewhere to be.

"A keychain," Master Yen Sid said firmly, looking between all the wielders. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Aqua, Ven, and Lea. Seven wielders, seven Guardians of Light. "Which will allow the Guardians of Light to connect as one to defeat the forces of Darkness."

Sora's fingers danced anxiously along his leg. He looked between his best friends and the four other wielders. "Okay. Another keychain. Cool. And we need it?"

"It will be… fundamental," Yen Sid agreed.

"Then let's go get it!"

"Sora—" hissed Donald fiercely.

"It will not be so easy to find, I'm afraid. The place where it's located is exceptionally difficult to reach, and once you get there, you may find your heart… protesting your return."

"Why?" Sora asked.

"Then let one of us go," Riku said calmly. "Our hearts don't have so many ties as Sora's."

"I'll go," Ven said, stepping up. Aqua quickly latched on to him and dragged him backwards, hissing that he "was not going anywhere", so the boy just glared at the ground.

Even Lea stepped forward to take Sora's place, but Yen Sid shook his head. "No. It'll have to be Sora. There's, I think, something there that needs to be seen."

"Well? Where is this place?" asked Mickey.

"A world known only on a digital landscape, which only one of our number can open at the moment."

"Like the Grid?" Sora pressed, looking excited. "Are we going to the Grid?"

"No, Sora. Not the Grid. There is… one other that, if not you, then your heart will no doubt remember." Yen Sid nodded in agreement with himself. "You do recall Twilight Town, don't you?"

"_Twilight Town_?" Kairi said. "How is that a digital world? We've been there before. Pretty often. Right?" She looked around her friends and then up to Sora, who had a faraway look on his face. He had solemnly pressed a hand against his heart. Ven, too, seemed a little distracted.

"...Oh. We're going to _his _Twilight Town."

"_His_?" Kairi asked.

"Roxas'," Riku answered for Sora.

Kairi fell silent at the name, which had a habit of stinging at Sora's heart, and sometimes her own, too.

"Yes."

"But that was destroyed, when we went to face the rest of the Organization. How will we get there? It's all… _gone_." A flinch crossed Sora's features.

"As I said, there's one amongst us who may be able to open it," Yen Said said, nodding to the door in the back.

"Yes, Sora. Anyone who knows anything about computers knows to save _everything_ that they do."

The small group turned to the door, watching as good Ansem the Wise stepped in, grinning and holding a floppy disc.

"That file's in here somewhere.

* * *

Sora, Donald and Goofy ended up being the ones to go to Twilight Town, this time through the computer in Yen Sid's office. Sora was a little antsy, shifting from foot to foot. He could feel his heart pounding, but he didn't know if that was Roxas, or if that was him.

"Now, you probably won't exactly recognize Twilight Town as you remember it. It'll be close, but some of the structures may not be entirely the same…" Yen Sid explained.

"Yeah, that's fine."

"The item is likely to be in a place that your heart remembers. And don't dilly dally! It's to be taken by tomorrow, by you or someone else. We _need_ that item, Sora, or we lose."

"Got it."

"And, if you meet some people there that you recognize… don't get too attached. We're destroying the file as soon as you're out."

"Someone that I recognize…?" asked Sora.

Yen Sid nodded a little. "Yes. Just... trust me. Don't get too attached."

"...Yeah. Okay. Let's go," Sora agreed, looking down at Donald, who tapped his foot impatiently.

They arrived in Station Heights, stepping off of a train they had never gotten on. It still looked the same as before, with the eternal sunset still beating red.

"I wonder what Master Yen Sid meant when he said we may not recognize it here. It all looks the same to me," Sora commented. His heart, still pounding, felt no different than before; did it look the same to Roxas, too?

"I dunno. It almost looks... newer," Donald quacked, looking around him.

"Gawrsh, I guess we should go find that item, huh?"

"Guess so," Sora said. He looked in every nook and cranny in Station Heights, for that keychain, before he headed for the Sandlot.

It took a bit of time to reach, and Sora got himself distracted by the Usual Spot- _why are there toys in here? And where's that ratty old blanket?_ -but they made it to the Sandlot eventually. No one was there, the benches empty and clean, the surrounding buildings glittering in the sunset.

"Shouldn't there be more people here? It's... kind of creepy..." Donald muttered.

"Seifer and his gang normally hang out around here, don't they?"

"Well, gawrsh Sora, maybe they're doin' something else?"

"...Hey, who are you guys? I never seen you 'round here before," a small voice said behind them.

Sora jumped straight out of his skin at the voice, turning to face it. His eyes widened when he saw a tiny blond boy behind them, maybe eight years old. The boy looked up at him with glittery, painfully recognizable blue eyes, and suddenly Sora understood why Master Yen Sid had told him not to get attached.

"Roxas...?"

The boy stuck his tongue out at him in disgust. "It's _Rox_. Only my Mom is allowed to call me Roxas!" he said. He tilted his head to the side. "But... how'd _you _know that?"

"L-lucky guess, I guess," Sora replied. "What are you doing here, and when did you get so small?"

"Um... I live right up there..." said Rox, turning around to point at a house that they'd passed. "I followed you all the way here, and you didn't even hear me!" He sounded so proud of himself. "And I'm not even small! Olette is littler than me! I just haven't gotten my growth spurt yet! But when that happens, I'm gonna be taller than _you_, _and _your dog!"

"My dog...?" Sora looked back at Goofy, who was crouching to see things from Rox' point of view.

"Yeah! And I'm gonna be _way_ bigger than your duck!"

Donald went red and made to attack the young Nobody, but Sora and Goofy quickly held him back. The boy looked thoroughly amused at the scene before him and broke down in giggles. The three others watched him until he calmed down, at which point the boy turned back up toward Station Heights and wailed, "Hayner! Pence! Olette! Come see the big guy I found!"

"Big guy?" asked Sora. He knew he was considerably bigger than Rox, but he'd always considered himself on the short side.

Three pairs of scampering feet rounded the corner, and another young blond basically launched himself off of the ground to tackle Rox, rolling them both over and leaving behind two frantically laughing kids.

"Rox! You know you're not supposed to talk to strangers, you'll get in trouble!" said the other blond. Sora wondered to himself if Hayner—the only one that this kid could be—had been incredibly mature when he was younger and had drastically changed with age… or if perhaps he'd had experience.

Rox wrestled Hayner off of him and pinned him to the ground. "Well, he's not a stranger anymore!" he said.

"Betcha don't even know his name!" Hayner flipped Rox off of him and sat up, eyeing Sora, Donald and Goofy cautiously.

"Do so! Er… not… hey mister, what's your name?" Rox sat beside Hayner and looked up at Sora.

The other two kids, a dark-haired pudgy boy and a brunette girl, came around to stand by their friends, looking at the trio like they were a bunch of freaks.

"Er…" Sora had been unable to get a word in edgewise, between the wrestling and arguing. "I'm Sora, and these are my friends Donald and Goofy," he said, pointing to his companions in turn. He then crouched a little, looking right at Rox. "And you know, Rox, your friend's right. If I was someone else, I could have really hurt you."

A look of suspicion crossed the young Nobody's face, but then a grin split his face in two. "Yeah, okay, I'll be more careful. But you wouldn'a hurt me, would you, Sora?" Unending trust shone in Rox's eyes. Sora found himself wondering for a moment if Rox knew just who Sora was to him… or maybe he just had some sort of feeling.

"Well… I mean, of course not. But that doesn't mean others won't. And, er, that goes for all of you. You shouldn't just… trust people."

Donald cackled at him a little. "Hello, pot."

Sora glared at him and stood. "Well, erm, I've gotta go. Got an important thing to find. Run on home, looks like it's getting late out."

The girl, Olette, giggled. "It's barely noon, Sora! Where are you goin'?"

"You're not allowed to just _leave_!" Rox wailed. He scrambled to his feet and launched himself at Sora when he passed, latching onto his leg and standing on his foot. "You can't just _leave_ without sayin' goodbye!"

Sora ignored the little Nobody clinging to his leg and instead looked at Olette and Pence. "Just… looking for a thing. Dunno where it is."

"So let us help!" Pence insisted. "This is our town, we know it like the back of our hands!"

"Yeah!" Hayner hopped to his feet and bounced over to Sora, standing on his other foot. "We'll find it easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!"

"And we can look in all the places that you're too big to look in! We got a lot of those around here," Olette agreed.

"We'll find it so fast, you won't know what to do for the rest of today!" Rox continued. He tugged on Sora's shirt and flashed a ridiculously comical pout—one that worked _all too well_.

"You'd be alright with that? I mean, don't you have any games to play?"

"Games are for little kids," Hayner scoffed, and Sora avoided pointing out that they _were_ little kids.

"Besides, then you can buy us ice cream 'cause we helped you," Pence said.

'_Of course_.' "If you all don't mind, I guess I won't say 'no' to a little help…" He had only been in the real Twilight Town once, and only for a few hours. Not nearly enough time to know where a little keychain might be.

"Yes!" Rox cheered. He leapt off of Sora's foot and nearly fell over. "Okay! 'Lette, you go that way, and Pence that way, and Hayner that way, and I'll go that way and Sora stays here! Meet back in an hour!"

"Right," the kids all agreed. Hayner scrambled away from Sora, leaving the eldest of the five humans just blown away by the amount of energy in four little bodies. "So, what are we looking for?" Olette at least had the sense to ask before running off.

"Erm… a keychain of some kind. Like… kind of like this one." Sora held out his hand and called his keyblade, which just so happened to have Bond of Flame equipped. The kids "ooh"ed in amazement, though Rox seemed to be staring at the keyblade itself, instead of the act. "It's about this size, but I don't know what it actually looks like."

"That's okay. It won't be _that_ hard to find, right?" Hayner said. He reached out a hand to touch the keychain, flinching at the heat.

"Right! You don't just leave those things lying around! It'll be _easy_!" Pence said. The other two nodded in agreement.

"Okay, so, meet back here in an hour?" Rox said. As his friends agreed, he put up one hand, sticking up three fingers. "Okay! Three... Two... One... _Go_!" The kids tore off toward their designated direction and within seconds were out of sight.

Donald watched Sora, who still seemed to be caught somewhere between incomprehension and affection. "You know what Master Yen Sid said..." he scolded gently. "Don't get too attached. When we bring back the keychain, this world will go _'kaput!'_. As will they. But when you think about it, they never existed anyway."

Sora winced and looked down at his friend. Little Rox never _really _existed. Not even as much as his Roxas had. "Never existed? Or was never intended to exist? Because his memories are telling me that all these guys existed."

"Yeah, well, he's just a—"

"Don't say it. I don't care what he 'just' is. Axel was 'just' a Nobody. Xemnas was 'just' a Nobody. They all existed. _Roxas_ still exists."

Donald sighed a little. Differing opinions—not that he doubted Roxas, Axel, or Xemnas' existence as Nobodies, but really... these little ones were only digital. They existed less than the Nobody in Sora's heart did.

Quiet descended on the trio, so Sora explored the little area before him. There weren't many places to hide a keychain here... but it was worth a try anyway. Better than sitting around doing nothing.

It was about fifty minutes later that a little voice wailed "Sora! Sora, I foun' it!"

Sora turned to face the voice, watching the child approach. He was honestly amazed that they'd managed to find such a little thing in a fairly big town. And of course, none other than his little Nobody would find it.

Rox launched himself forward, crashing into Sora's legs and nearly toppling them both. "Sora! I foun' it, but I can't get it you gotta come with me! The gaps are too small."

"The gaps…?"

"Mhmm…" Rox took Sora's hand and pulled him toward the keychain. "Come on, let's go get it! I'll show you!"

Donald and Goofy flashed him a look, so Sora waved his free hand at them. "Stay here and wait for the others. We'll be back in like ten minutes."

"Only ten! Only ten! I found the keychain!" Rox cheered brightly. He dragged Sora behind him, and Sora could only laugh at the little guy's determination.

"Yeah, yeah, let's go get it."

Rox brought him up the stairwell and onto what looked like the town square. It was called Market Street, and was encompassed in little shops. The boy, very friendly, seemed to know everyone or want to know everyone. He said hello to everyone and they all said hello in return, many with his name. It astounded Sora that the one boy intended to disappear since his very birth could affect so many people. And that none of them would remember him.

Finally, Rox brought Sora to a little gap in the wall that separated the town from the woods.

"Okay, kid, now where?"

"Through there!" Rox pointed down at the gap, which barely looked big enough to fit Rox at all. How on earth did the kid expect _him _to fit through that?

"Hey, uh... Can _you _even fit through there?"

Rox pouted and stuck out his tongue. "Can so! You just gotta scrunch up like a centipede and wiggle through. I'll show you!" He dropped to his hands and knees in front of the gap. He snuggled down to the ground and started to army crawl through, bunching his little limbs up to him until he could freely escape from it. Soon enough, he'd disappeared.

"There! That's all! There's just a little part that makes it so tiny. If you get past that then you're home free!" Rox said from the other side. "Come on, we gotta find the keychain! It's just through the woods!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Sora said, sounding annoyed but feeling highly and ridiculously amused. It looked like he and his Nobody had more in common than he thought; Roxas must have been just as bouncy as _he _was when he was younger!

Sora wiggled in through the gap and was met with Rox's grinning face. The boy took his hand and 'helped' him wiggle through the rest of the way, then yanked him to his feet. When Sora freed himself, he took a breather, looking around him. "So, it's in here somewhere?" he asked. That must have been the 'small gap' he'd been talking about.

But Rox animatedly shook his head. "Nope! This is just the way we go to get to it. It's all the way through these woods."

"Through the woods?"

"Mhmm. 'Cause there's this ghost mansion there, and they have a _really_ big yard but I couldn't get through the gaps between the bars, and I tried but I couldn't get it open. But I saw it in the yard."

"Um..." Sora allowed Rox to keep a tight grip on his hand. "Okay. Just... stay by me. I don't want to get separated."

"Ha! You'd get lost so fast," Rox giggled. He pulled Sora along behind him, weaving through the trees.

It took a few minutes of weaving, but Rox eventually dragged Sora to the gate in front of a large mansion, the one that Pence brought him to to get to The World That Never Was. The trees were clearer here, causing wind to sweep between them and ruffle up their hair and clothes.

Rox shivered fiercely, though Sora wasn't sure if it was from the chill or from something else. The boy turned against his older companion, clutching at his vest. "...I don't like it here…"

Sora cocked a brow, until Roxas' memories came to him, and it kind of occurred to him. This was the place that he had met Xemnas for the first time. This was the place where Roxas had been taken by a bunch of Dusks, and then later came here to give up his entire existence for Sora's sake. Even if the little Nobody holding onto his clothes didn't actually remember any of this happening, no doubt he still felt the same kind of emotions that Roxas would.

Solemnly, Sora stooped a little and hooked his hands beneath Rox's arms. He hefted the boy up slowly, letting him take in what was happening, and settled him on his hip.

Rox gave a little "_hrk_" when Sora picked him up, winding a hand in his vest. He peered around him from his new vantage point, finally looking up at Sora and giving an anxious grin.

"I won't let anything happen to you," Sora assured, hefting up Rox a little higher to get a better grip on him. Rox wrapped one arm around his neck and laid his head on his chest. "So, kid. Where to now?"

Rox lifted his head for a moment and pointed at the gate. "It's in there, I said. In the way back of the yard. You can see it from right in front but you can't get to it with the gate locked."

"Kay." Sora hefted Rox again so he could walk comfortably, and then carted his little charge over to the gate to look around for the item.

"There! There!" Rox nearly fell out of Sora's arms when he turned, pointing at a little white thing twinkling in the grass at the back of the yard. Sora blocked his eyes from the sun and squinted, catching sight of it.

"Wow, good job. I'm surprised you found it," he said. He held his free hand out and called his keyblade. He unlocked the lock and let it swing open. Rox didn't question his ability at all.

"Yeah. My heart told me where it was."

Sora blinked and glanced down to the boy, who was staring at the keychain. "Well… looks like your heart knows a thing or two that it could teach me, huh?"

Rox smiled a little and leaned back on Sora. "Guess so."

Sora picked his way over to the keychain. It had a simple design: white with six black spikes connected to a ring in the middle. He crouched to pick it up, but Rox stretched out one hand to pick it up instead. He looked it over, tilting it to and fro so it glittered in the sunlight. Then he pressed it into Sora's free hand. "There y' go."

"Thanks, buddy."

"Welcome."

Sora carried Rox back out of the yard, closing the gate and sealing it shut. He looked up at the window of the mansion, maybe looking for a little-kid-sized Naminé (if Roxas' memories told him correctly). When nothing came back, he walked back to the wall and the gap.

Rox crawled through first yet again and dragged Sora through, falling to his backsides when Sora was safely through. He scrambled up onto Sora's back and the teen rolled his eyes but gave him a piggyback ride to the Sandlot.

"_Did you find it_?!"

Rox scrambled down from Sora's back and raced over to his friends, who were waiting for him patiently. "Yeah! Found it in the woods by the old house! You gotta see it, it's real pretty!"

Hayner scowled at Roxas and bonked his fist on the boy's head. "_You_ said to meet up here in an hour! And you couldn't even keep your promise!" He put his fists on his hips and tapped a foot expectantly.

"Sorry, Hayner. But I found it!"

Hayner rolled his eyes, but he did look very amused at Rox. He then hopped over to Sora excitedly, demanding to see the keychain.

"Fine, fine." Sora fished for the keychain in his pocket and passed it over to the boy, who shared it with his friends with wide eyes.

"It's so bright!" Olette said, swiping it from Hayner's hand and holding it up to the sun.

"Yeah," Sora agreed, noticing it for the first time. "It's probably because it's for my friends and I, and we're called… er, the Guardians of Light."

"The Guardians of Light?" Pence asked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"We, um… guard… light?"

Olette giggled, handing the keychain back to Sora, who quickly pocketed it. Rox puffed out a cheek and said, "I wanna guard light, too!"

"Me three!"

"Me four!"

"Me five!"

Sora soon had four babbling kids surrounding him, asking him how they could become Guardians, too. The older boy laughed at them and hushed them, saying, "all you've gotta do is… is stay good. Don't let the darkness infect your heart. And if it does, push it back out. If you do that, then you can all guard the light."

Donald rolled his eyes, leaning against a far wall with Goofy at his side. He quacked something at his companion and then approached the kids, who were all looking excitedly between each other (though Rox seemed confused and crestfallen) and promising that they would do exactly that. "Come on, Sora, we should get going."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess so." Sora looked toward Station Heights and the duo approaching him.

"What?"

"You're leaving already?!"

"But you just got here!"

Sora chuckled at them. "Well, I only came here for this item, so..."

"But you can't leave!"

"I've gotta go. I've got, um, light to guard."

Rox pouted a little and took his hand. "Fine. I'm coming with you, then. Just until you have to leave."

Sora smiled a little and squeezed his hand. "If you insist." He looked to the Disney Castle residents, one of whom looked very unamused at him. The other seemed to be trying to get Rox to laugh, and was succeeding pretty easily.

Donald just rolled his eyes and led the way back to Station Heights. Rox muttered something about him being a grumpy duck, but he followed Donald, Goofy and Sora. He only turned around to wave goodbye at his friends, who shrugged and ran off to play, yelling "meet you at the usual spot!"

It was halfway to Station Heights that Sora noticed out of the corner of his eye a woman following them cautiously. She kept her distance, just seemed to want to keep an eye on them all. Rox didn't take notice of her, just happily hummed and babbled at his side.

Rox didn't release his hand until they were in the train station and a train was waiting patiently for them. Even then, it was Sora who pulled his hand free; he doubted if he'd be able to bring the digital Rox into the real worlds. Rox watched with wide eyes, and it was clear that he felt like he was losing a dear friend… or a big brother…

Sora's heart clenched and he looked away when he was beckoned for.

"Well, see you later, Rox. You should go back to your frie—"

"_WAIT_!"

Sora halted, just about to step on the train, when a pair of little arms wound around his legs. The arms felt like they were shaking.

"Wait… don't go yet…" Rox whispered into his legs, pressing his forehead against his thighs. Now, not even Donald had the heart to urge Sora on. Digital or not, this little kid, his little Nobody, was tearing their hearts into billions of pieces. "Will I ever see you again?"

Sora slowly turned around, grabbing Rox's arms so Rox didn't turn with him. He crouched and wrapped his arms around the little Nobody. Rox climbed into his arms and wrapped his arms tight around his neck. Sora supported him and stood, resting his chin on the boy's messy blond head. "Yes. Yes, you definitely will see me again."

Rox looked up at Sora again, like he had somehow known that wasn't possible. He smiled a little.

Sora gave him a broad, optimistic grin, lifting Rox a little higher. "I even promise to bring back the keychain when we're done with it, so I'll see you soon. How does that sound?"

"Good," Rox sniffled, but he didn't let go. At least, not until a shrill voice cried, "Roxas!" and the front doors banged open.

The woman that had been following them rushed inside and swept Rox out of Sora's arms, clutching him tight to her like she thought she was going to lose him. Rox laughed a little and swiped at his eyes. "Mom…"

Sora started with the realization. It had never really occurred to him that the woman following them could have been Rox's overprotective mother, because it had never occurred to him that in this world, where Roxas had real memories of nearly fifteen years, of a full life well spent, he had a mother, and a father. He had a real _family_ here.

The woman curled one arm over Rox's head, holding him even tighter against her. Her eyes were wide as she watched Sora, Donald and Goofy. She snapped them away and looked down at her son. "Where did you think you were going?"

"Right…" Rox pulled his head away and looked around at the floor. "Right there. No wait…" He then pointed at Sora. "Right there."

"Right there? And what would happen if you couldn't get to right _here_?"

Rox giggled at his mother like he thought she was being ridiculous. "That wouldn't have happened, Mom. Geez. Look, Mom, that's my new friend. He's called Sora. We had to help him find his keychain thing because he's never been to here but me and Olette and Hayner and Pence have and I _found it_ all by myself but I couldn't get it so Sora went to get it with me and he's okay, Mom, he made me feel safe in those woods."

"The woods? Roxas, I told you not to go around there. Bad things can happen there."

Sora heard the intentional screw up. 'Bad things _would_ happen there' was she had wanted to say. Like she knew, somehow. And the way that she was eyeing him, with hatred and that evil look that clearly said that he _must_ have been trying to take away her baby, Sora didn't doubt that she understood that one day, Roxas would go away forever.

"Yeah, but we had to find the keychain _somehow_, and you said it too! Things come to those who go out and find them!"

The woman sighed a little and kissed Rox's head, making the boy flounder in protest. "Don't be stupid, Roxas. And you could have gotten yourself and Sora lost in those woods. Stay away from there."

"...Okay."

Both Sora, and Rox's mother smiled at the reply. The woman turned away, completely intending to bring Rox home, so Rox looked over her shoulder and offered a big grin, a copy of the one that Sora had shown him. "Remember Sora! You promised! See you soon!"

Sora lifted a hand in reply, nodding. He gave a sheepish grin when the boy's mother turned to glare at him, tucking her son against her and away from him. Then, she opened her mouth and said, with little hesitation, "Y...You won't take him away from me already. I get to keep him for just a little bit longer."

Sora's eyes widened; she really _did_ know? Did anyone else know? "I… won't. You'll get to keep him until he's my age," he promised, and yet she didn't look satisfied.

'_I took away someone's baby...'_

"...Okay. Goodbye, Sora. Good luck, with whatever you need the keychain for."

"...Yes. Thank you."

"Bye!"

Sora turned away and followed his friends into the train car, forcing himself not to look back as he was pulled back into the real world.

* * *

Practically as soon as Sora was out of Rox's Twilight Town, Ansem was hovering over it, prepared to delete it. Rox would disappear, as would his mother and his three best friends and everyone else there…

"Did you get the keychain?" asked Master Yen Sid impatiently.

Sora fished it from his pocket and flashed it at Yen Sid. Almost immediately, Yen Sid turned to Ansem and said, "go ahead and delete it."

"Already on it."

"No… wait!" Sora flung out one hand and practically leapt at Ansem, as Rox had done when he was about to leave. "You… _can't_ delete it yet. Please."

Kairi approached him and set a hand on his arm, looking worried for his sake. Riku snorted and said, "Sora being polite? This must be _really_ important."

Sora glared at him. "It's not that weird. And it _is_ important." He looked back up at Ansem, who thankfully hadn't deleted the file. The cursor was y hanging over the 'Delete' button, but it hadn't clicked it… not yet.

"I told you not to get attached," Yen Sid sighed, but he waved at Ansem to stop him.

"I'd like to see you _not_," Sora grouched. "And… it's not like you're gonna keep it for forever. Can't we just keep it, until this is all over with?"

"Why? What on Earth would you still have to do in there?" Ansem demanded.

Sora looked down at the keychain in his hand and held it tight in his fist. _I even promise to bring back the keychain when we're done with it, so I'll see you soon. How does that sound? … Remember Sora! You promised! See you soon!_ "There's just… a promise that I have to keep, to someone really important. I got to keep everyone else's. And he's one of those people that you can't say no to. I'd like to see _you_ try." He glared at Ansem, Roxas' memories of 'you were never supposed to exist' and 'you must return that existence to him' and 'you will disappear' coming painfully to the forefront of his mind. "You can delete it afterwards. But please, let me keep that promise. I hate not being able to keep my promises."

Ansem and Yen Sid both glared at him, but for entirely different reasons. Then, Yen Sid nodded. "We'll keep it alive, and locked, until you've kept your promise. Then it's going to the trash bin."

* * *

So... yeah. That happened. Isn't little Roxas absolutely precious?

And yes, there is a second chapter being written as we speak. If it wasn't obvious. Also, I kind of BS'ed the title, so if anyone can think of a better one, PM me or review or whatever! Thanks

As always, all reviews will be answered via PM.

Until next time,

~YAJJ


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